Man oh man.
I'm absolutely loving this.
I never thought I'd get this much Experience Points from killing humans.
Well, I guess it makes sense when you think about it, but when you get this much, you just can't stop laughing.
This time around, I killed 28 people and leveled up six times.
I let the Summoner and the Mage escape, but I've already put a Marking on them, so I can deal with them anytime.
Same goes for the four who ran away — they've got Markings too, so I can take them out whenever I want.
Even after evolving, I'll have plenty of time to catch up with them.
This evolution should supposedly be the final one.
My rank as a Monster will be the same as Mother's.
Well, there's still the gap in how long we've each been alive, so if we fought head-on, Mother would still be way stronger.
Still, there's a certain satisfaction in having climbed up from being the weakest.
Then again, I've still got further to go.
Even if the outside world considers this the highest tier of Monster, for me, evolving into an Arachne is just a stepping stone.
And even the Arachne is just a stepping stone to reaching the Administrator level.
The road ahead is still long.
But considering the Experience Points I get from humans, I might get through it faster than expected.
I only killed 28 people and got this much Experience Points, so if I slaughtered about a thousand, I'd probably level up in no time.
Honestly, it's way more efficient to hunt humans than to go all-out fighting a deathmatch with the Earth Dragon.
The only problem would be Gyurigyuri.
That guy's probably watching me, and he knows I maxed out on Taboo.
If I kill the Earth Dragon, kill humans, and then start slaughtering even more humans on top of that, he'll figure out my goal for sure.
And once he figures it out, he'll come to stop me.
What a pain.
Not that there's any point in him trying to stop me.
Hmm.
Maybe I should just hold off and wait for an extermination team to be assembled instead of making the first move?
Since I let the Summoner and the Mage escape, the next wave is probably going to be a stronger squad coming to take me down, right?
If I just beat them in return, then oh, what a surprise.
Self-defense, baby.
Not bad at all.
Perfect.
Alright then. I'll hole up in the Dungeon for a while and wait for the extermination team.
Kukuku.
Let them come waltzing in without even knowing they're being lured.
Fufufu.
In the meantime, if I've got free time, maybe I'll go take down some Earth Dragons or something.
Anyway, that's the plan for the time being. Now let me start preparing to evolve.
I collect the scattered corpses.
I place them alongside Ark.
Then I start spreading Thread all around Ark in a circle.
Ark's pretty big, you know.
This is quite the heavy labor.
Phew.
Done.
It's not exactly high-quality, but it's more than enough for evolving.
My Home got burned down, so I should probably build a new nest while keeping the option of moving around in mind.
Oh, but if I move, the extermination team might not be able to find me.
Hmm.
Should I at least build a decoy nest?
Then again, if I'm going to go through the trouble of building one, why not just stay there?
Ahh, but staying in one place for too long is dangerous too.
Oh, that reminds me — what happens to the Parallel Wills during evolution?
They're already pretty much physically independent from me at this point.
I wonder what'll happen if I go into evolution mode?
Eh, whatever.
Even if they get forced into Sleep Mode like me, they won't die.
As long as some outside-the-system power isn't used against them, it's practically impossible to wipe them out now.
As long as I, the main body, don't die.
So anyway, let's get this evolution started.
《Individual Ede Saine will evolve into Zana Horowa》 Here we go!
Huh?
I should be losing consciousness at this point like usual, but I'm not getting sleepy at all?
Oh, maybe it's Sleep Immunity?
The Skill I got from the Title "Lord of Sloth" — Sleep Immunity.
This Skill doesn't just nullify sleep-attribute attacks; it also eliminates the bad status effects caused by not sleeping.
No penalties for going 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
And on top of that, I can still sleep normally whenever I want, so it's a really handy Skill.
I'm guessing this Skill is what's letting me avoid passing out during evolution.
But so this is evolution, huh.
It feels kind of weird.
It doesn't hurt and it doesn't itch, but it feels like my body is being rebuilt from the inside out.
Like I'm becoming something completely different.
And yet, strangely, I don't feel any fear or revulsion.
《Evolution complete》 《Race changed to Zana Horowa》 《All base ability values have increased》 《Obtained Skill Proficiency Evolution Bonus》 After that, Skill after Skill starts leveling up in rapid succession.
Wow.
I knew Skills tend to go up across the board after evolving, but hearing them listed like this really drives home just how many Skills leveled up.
《Evolution has granted the Skill "Immortality"》 《Skill Points obtained》 Hm?
Hm hm?
HM HM HM!?
Did I just hear something I really, really shouldn't have let slip by!?
Excuse me?
What did I just obtain?!
"Immortality: Within the system, you can no longer die"
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!! Is this actually okay!? Isn't this totally broken!? Just casually slipping something like this in — how much of an idiot is D!?
Yes, I will gladly accept this! I will humbly and gratefully accept it! Yahoo!
With this, the only one who can actually take me down is Gyurigyuri!
This calls for a little celebration, doesn't it?
Uehehehehehe!
There was a sound.
A smartphone had dropped to the ground.